They can do it again

This is the opening game for 2019-20 Danish Superliga and will be played at MCH Arena. Last season’s title runner-up Midtjylland host 3rd placed Esbjerg. Midtjylland had a quite mediocre start, but they improved much finishing in the 2nd place of the league. However, they weren’t so competitive to fight for the title until the end. P.Onuachu and newcomer from Dijon Sory Kaba will be their attacking duo, however, both are missing tonight as they are on international duty for the African Cup of Nations. Besides this, the Costarican attacker M.George is also missing, as he was with his National team in the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Esbjerg finished in the 3rd place of last season’s Superliga, winning 1-2 over Midtjylland in the last round, in the same stadium that will be played today’s match. The won a place in the 3rd qualification round of Europa League. It’s worth mentioning that a few days ago they won again over Midtjylland, in a preparation game (2-0). They opted for domestic players, plus the Finish winger Soiri who came from Admira. They weren't as active so far in the transfer window, keeping their last season’s core players. The Dutch John Lammers stayed in their bench for one more season (3rd in a row).

It’s commonplace to say that upsets are expected in the opening games, and of course I cannot rule out this tonight in MCH Arena. Three important offensive players of the home team are missing, it is definitely a headache for their coach K.Andersen, who has many things to improve in his team after their average performance in their preparation games. On the other hand, I expect Esbjerg to be more solid, at least in their first games, having kept all their core players. There are many chances for an upset here, definitely more than the odds of the away win suggest (6.05).